Case Studies and Examples

The case studies highlight how local governments, non-profits,
community organizations, and the private sector are responding to
climate change. New case studies will be added periodically. Use
the submission form below to recommend an innovative effort that
should be included.

Challenges and Solutions

The case studies are organized by solutions that practitioners are
finding to a common set of challenges in adaptation. These challenges
span the spectrum of community planning to project implementation.

In addition to the case studies developed by OPR staff, the
Clearinghouse includes case studies from the Ocean Protection
Council, the Local Government Commission’s CivicSpark program,
CalTrans’ SB1 Adaptation Planning grantees, and more.

Other Examples

Find more case studies and examples on the following sites:

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research has many ongoing partnerships and programs to produce case studies of replicable best practices, some of which are highlighted in the Best Practice Pilot Program. The office is currently collecting a variety of case studies that will be updated on an ongoing basis.

The Georgetown Adaptation Clearinghouse provides resources that help policymakers at all levels of governments reduce or avoid the impacts of climate change to communities in the United States. The Adaptation Clearinghouse focuses on climate change impacts that adversely affect people and our built environment. Content focal areas include the water, coastal, transportation, infrastructure and public health sectors, and adaptation planning, policies, laws, and governance.

The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKEX) aims to build a shared knowledge base for managing natural and built systems in the face of rapid climate change. Just as importantly, it is intended to help build an innovative community of practice. It helps users to find appropriate resources quickly by vetting and clearly organizing the best information available, building a community via an interactive online platform, creating a directory of practitioners to share knowledge and strategies, an identifying and explaining data tools and information available from other sites. CakeX consists of case studies, a virtual library, directory and tools and houses a variety of community forums for the discussion of current issues in climate adaptation.

The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience, offering information from all across the U.S. federal government in one easy-to-use location. The goal of the Toolkit is to improve people’s ability to understand and manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, and to help them make their communities and businesses more resilient to extreme events. Visit their easy-to-use case studies page to filter by threat/stressor, topic, region, and steps to resilience.

The Local Government Commission works to build livable communities and local leadership by connecting leaders via innovative programs and network opportunities, advancing policies through participation at the local and state level, and implementing solutions as technical assistance provider to local jurisdictions. LGC is an active leader in California climate adaptation by playing an active partnership role in the Alliance for Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA), administering the Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program, CivicSpark , and much more. Visit their climate change resources page or browse current CivicSpark projects taking place throughout the state to stay up to date on some of their adaptation and resilience-focused work.

The Institute for Local Government has a number of adaptation resources including case studies of climate adaptation plans in California to showcase the variety of formats adaptation planning can take and the many levels and forms of government that can make it happen. Local actions being taken in California through policy and program initiatives. Through the GIS map, click on any local government to see the work they are doing on climate change.

California Natural Resources Agency. 2018

Sea level rise

Project or Example

California state agencies collaborated to compile each of these examples, associated with Safeguarding California's 2018 update, to show how California is preparing for and adjusting to various extreme events brought on by climate change. … Each of these examples highlights unique strategies, funded by the state, to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change. The examples are tagged with icons from the Safeguarding California Report, classifying stories by sector. This example highlights a highway realignment to protect the route from severe coastal erosion, which is exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

Extreme stormsFloodingSea level rise

Case Study

BEACON is a two-county, multi-city, joint powers agency established in 1986 to address coastal erosion, beach nourishment, and clean oceans on the Central Coast. BEACON has been involved in an array of coastal studies and projects in … close coordination with the parks, planning, and public works departments of the member agencies. In recent years, BEACON has worked to help its members address climate change planning, with a focus on both hazard mitigation and adaptation strategies.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

Sea level rise

Case Study

Researchers at UCLA Law developed this study for Southern California decision-makers. The paper identifies how local governments can harness legal doctrines to support aggressive, innovative actions to address sea level rise while minimizing … their legal risk. The paper can help local governments understand the ways to use legal tools to enhance their adaptive capacity by providing them with the necessary legal authority for certain adaptation actions.

Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments. 2018

Extreme stormsFloodingSea level rise

Case Study

The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG), in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Center for Blue Economy (CBE), will prepare a climate resiliency study for the Central Coast Highway 1 corridor. This study … will provide a conceptual climate change adaptation transportation planning foundation for integration into the AMBAG Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). This effort will identify transportation improvements and sea level rise adaptation strategies for Highway 1 that can improve transportation mobility, safety and efficiency, promote healthy habitats, and provide economic security and benefits to the local community. The goal is that the completed plan will lead to implementation and development of adaptation projects, by being incorporated into local and regional plans.

Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Environmental Office. 2018

Case Study

The main goal of the project is to develop a climate change vulnerability assessment of the transportation system to resources of cultural and traditional significance to the Chumash people. Through research, education, outreach, and surveys … from the various bands of Chumash, specific areas of importance will be identified. Climate change impact projections will be made to identify risks to Chumash sites and resources. Multimodal transportation routes will be mapped along with planned adaptation projects by Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Regional Transportation Planning Agencies (RTPAs) to identify specific needs for protecting access for the Chumash to areas of Tribal importance.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. 2018

FloodingSea level riseWildfire

Case Study

The multi-modal transportation network resiliency assessment conducted for this project will include a vulnerability assessment to identify areas where transportation assets are most vulnerable to potential impacts of climate change. SBCAG … intends to work collaboratively to complete a regional climate adaptation strategy for implementation and to identify a regional Climate Smart Transportation Network that utilizes nature-based solutions in locations most vulnerable to climate change impacts. The recommendations from the study will be incorporated into the next update of SBCAG's Regional Transportation Plan-Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP-SCS).